Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Human exploitation of nature has led to fragmentation of lion habitats and degraded abundance of wild prey. Confrontations with livestock becomes more frequent when lions increase their spatial activity in rural areas. When natural prey is scarce, these confrontations often leads to predation and lions being killed in retaliation by farmers. This human-wildlife conflict is one of the main reasons why lion populations are declining all over Africa. Therefore, it is important to introduce preventive measures that improve the resilience against predation on livestock. Increased knowledge about lion`s capacities as predators and identification of husbandry deficiencies that facilitates predation, are needed to reinforce the protection of livestock. A study with the aim to investigate these behaviour ecological and husbandry factors, was conducted in Ol Pejeta, Kenya. Documented deaths of cattle, caused by predation, were analysed. A questionnaire was designed and interviews with local herders was performed. The results indicated that cattle were more vulnerable during daytime on pasture than during night when being housed in protective enclosures. Different conditions concerning supervision of cattle could explain the varied frequency of predation between day and night. This could be improved by increasing the number of herders. However, there are many aspects to have in mind when evaluating the risk of lion predation on livestock. For example, type of vegetation, rainfall and abundance of wild prey. The study was not adequately designed to analyse the results in relation to these affecting factors. Other studies, that have analysed predation in relation to mentioned factors, have published similar results and nevertheless drawn same conclusions, stating that improved husbandry could be effective against predation. For example, increased number of herders and reinforced enclosures with metal fencing. Due to expensive costs, these measures can be difficult for farmers to apply. Future research should focus on modify already developed implements or suggested solutions, making them more accessible for farmers.